"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.

You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

Dr. Adrian Rogers 1931-2005

Friday, November 23, 2007

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known unto God. Philippians 4:6

This is such a wonderful scripture, and today on Thanksgiving, truly was special. The family was together, and I know that as the children continue to get older, I know that this is something that may not always be so. So the Double Nickel Family had a wonderful meal and special time together. We are so thankful for our salvation. Knowing where we are going is truly a blessing, Praise Jesus.

Our 2007 list of things we are thankful for:

~Bill's health, not the best...but he is still with us. We truly have cherished the last 35 months since he had his accident.

~The children's health.

~My health.

~Having a roof over our heads, never missing a meal, and the love of each other.

~New friends in blog-land.

~The wonderful harvest, from our little garden in the city.

~The Burrito Tuesday business and how it has helped through very sparse days.

~I am thankful for finding so many who have received Jesus as their Saviour. I pray that each of us are used in the way the Lord so chooses.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Proclamation of Thanksgiving

Washington, D.C.October 3, 1863

This is the proclamation which set the precedent for America's national day of Thanksgiving. During his administration, President Lincoln issued many orders like this. For example, on November 28, 1861, he ordered government departments closed for a local day of thanksgiving.

Sarah Josepha Hale, a prominent magazine editor, wrote a letter to Lincoln on 28, 1863, urging him to have the "day of our annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival." She wrote, "You may have observed that, for some years past, there has been an increasing interest felt in our land to have the Thanksgiving held on the same day, in all the States; it now needs National recognition and authoritative fixation, only, to become permanently, an American custom and institution." The document below sets apart the last Thursday of November "as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise."

According to an April 1, 1864, letter from John Nicolay, one of President Lincoln's secretaries, this document was written by Secretary of State William Seward, and the original was in his handwriting. On October 3, 1863, fellow Cabinet member Gideon Welles recorded in his diary that he complimented Seward on his work. A year later the manuscript was sold to benefit Union troops.

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and

Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverance's and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

My last post took my thoughts through Genesis 3:15-16. I now am going to walk through Genesis 3:17-19.

3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;

3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

As I have gotten older I have come to appreciate the fact that nothing is guaranteed by man for man. We are entitled to nothing and deserve nothing, in man's eyes. But I am finding such amazing comfort in the word of the Lord. We have come very far in this nation. Once we were a nation that lived on farms and earned our keep tilling the soil and working hard with our hands. This was the symbol of America. Hard working families that were devoted to the Lord and unwilling to waiver.

Now jump forward in time. There is such shame in a person working with their hands. As if this determines how poor one is. I chuckle as I type this, as that is utter nonsense. Then as I continue to study and read and pray about the Word, I realize that even in a curse the Lord offers such comfort. God gives the path for man, to work and toil and by the sweat of his brow shall he eat.

How perfect is that? I am one that feels such accomplishment the harder I work. Even with Bill's health issues he feels invigorated when he is on the land, either cutting a vegetable to plotting and planning the garden beds. I love when we get together as a family and work. So in these verses we are promised to work the land and we will return to the dust as we once were. Well our physical bodies will. So knowing this, we can work and toil and understand that because of the Fall, this is the way that the Lord planned it. I find comfort in living the way the Lord plans things. Now due to the Fall we must all work and toil as we await the return of our Saviour. Mind you, this is not an act to earn my salvation, but is a result of being saved I know change my lifestyle towards the way that the Lord wishes me to live.

So as we move our mini-farming experiment into a full-time venture I am comforted. I am at peace with the possibility of hard work. Because I know that all is well in the end.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

In Genesis we see the promised redemption of chapter 3 verse 15, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise thy heal.

This is such a revelation to me. It shows that God knew human nature, and that we would never be able to be the way He wanted without Jesus' blood covering our wretched life. I love then the next two verses, and I will focus on them for now.

3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

As I have read that verse throughout the years many thoughts came to mind. Now as a wife and mother of 19 years, I have a new appreciation of this verse. I reflect on having four c-sections, and the pain involved in the delivery and recovery, I also remember the immediate desire I had to have another child. I never 'got' seeing a woman wanting to have so many children before I had children. Now I do. I love that even in the curse, that man brought upon himself, the beauty and love that God offered to everyone of us. I understand the Fall and the disobedience that occurred, but also the love God offered. Being a mother is such a wonderful role. From the early stages of their lives to adulthood, you have such delight. Yes there is also pain, from a child disobeying, but also total love for the life you help create. I believe that the curse allowed mothers to have a glimpse into the way the God felt when Adam and Eve, His children, disobeyed Him. Actually as parents, we see this pain in our children.

I also understand the desire I have for my husband. I understand this part of the curse too. In many ways we have seen this equated as to a woman jumping on a chair because of a mouse, and her husband rushes in and saves the day! I desire my husband. I absolutely and totally seek him in all I do. I seek his approval, his understanding, his smile, and his love. I need him to be there when I am sad, angry, and joyous. I need to feel his warmth in the bed as I sleep, along with the physical relationship we have. I can not explain this. If one is in a marriage with Christ as the focus this is the case. If one is not this is the case. It is so hard for many to understand, yet crystal clear to me because God said it. Case in point: why do women stay with a husband that beats her? Why do women stay with a man that does not love her, or is evil? Why because of this scripture. It makes sense, this is our curse. That is why we MUST raise our daughters to seek a man that is a Christian, in word and in action. Because this is how we are made.

Now to the part of the verse that riles feminist, "and he shall rule over thee" -what on earth does this mean? Well he is the head of the house and he is the provider and he is the one that shall lead the home. Eve ate the fruit, yet Adam is responsible for the Fall. See, God places man as the head. So as a woman we too must understand that. Does this mean that he can be a wife beating dishonorable man? No, because Jesus tells us in the New Testament in Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love thy Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. See, this is how your husband is to treat you. And this is why you should allow him to be the head of your home. If the husband loves God with all his body and soul and mind, he will understand and read His word. His word is filled with how to treat a woman, a slave, and an unsaved person. So it is comforting. If we submit and allow him to lead and uplift him in our acts and words, we will live the way the Lord desires us to.

I understand that many may not understand these thoughts as we live in such 'progressive' times where woman are in charge of the possibility of killing her unborn legally in the eyes of the law. But the Lord created the world and this is how He designed it. We can fight this or not but this is the way it is.

Now as Humble Wife of the Double Nickel I find these verses comforting in the times we live in. We are headed in the world that is directly going against the Lord. Yet we are given such promises. In the next post I will take Genesis 3:17, as this is such a wonderful promise intermingled in the curse.Until thenHumble Wife

About Me

I have been married to my best friend for nearly 29 years and we live on a small farm in the middle of the desert.
We have four children (now adults) three daughters-in-law, two grandsons and look forward to many more added to the fold.